Photography is all about light and the magic it creates on the subject.
For Mumbai-based advertising and corporate photographer Benoy Roy, travel musings and digital art have today become his mainstay as a shutterbug. Specialising in nature and people photography, he says, “Growing up, History was always my weak point as a student. Ironically, today, all my travel photography seems impacted by a strong sense of history that lends every image a perspective — whether it is the ruins of Hampi, the Golconda Fort or the Ajanta and Ellora caves. They say travel opens your mind and senses. I feel it also shows you a different version of yourself from what you always believed.”
1. Ajanta and Ellora
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Caves, Ajanta and Ellora
Photography is all about light and the magic it creates on the subject. In choosing Ajanta and Ellora, I was eliminating this most important aspect of photography. Going inside a cave, I knew I could neither expect much quality or quantity of light nor carry a tripod due to the heritage nature of the site. Getting good quality was a challenge, required a very steady hand and long exposures. It struck me that the artists of the caves worked in pretty much the same conditions. The beauty of this place, ergo, is in seeing and capturing it amid the same settings it was created in.
2. Golconda Fort
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Golconda Fort, Hyderabad
The Golconda experience is not just visual. A very important facet of this magnificent place is its amazing acoustic design, where a clap at one point can be heard about a kilometre away. As I walked around, my senses were overcome with all the beautiful imagery that surrounded me. The process led naturally towards interpreting the fort (it actually consists of four forts) through digital art with multiple images in one setting. I call it ‘time travel on a canvas’!
3. TEMPLE_RUINS_HAMPI
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Temple ruins, Hampi
The monolithic landscape of Hampi offers a lot to photographers. From the temple architecture to the structural landscape to the engineering marvel of the oldest canal system in the world to the exquisite carvings. I found myself drawn to the boulders that formed the foundation of this world that the artisans of that time used. They were the basis of those magnificent structures that once stood, and they are what remains when all is broken down! This particular image seems exemplary of the temple emerging from its source material — the humble, gigantic boulder!
4. ROOT_BRIDGE_MAWLYNONG
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Living Root Bridges, Mawlynong
Handmade from the aerial roots of the fig trees by the Khasis and Jaintias, some of these bridges are over a hundred years old. Literally a bridge between the past and the future, they are an incredible example of design in nature. During my homestay at Mawlynong on this trip, the South Indian family, also guests there, asked for curd to accompany their rice, clearly missing their thairsaadam. My hosts could not understand what ‘curd’ was, the region and the climate clearly not conducive to this milk product. Nothing could have underlined more clearly the wonderful diversity of our country that even a lifetime is not enough to cover!
5. GHATS_VARANASI
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Ghats, Varanasi
For the longest time, I resisted going to Varanasi, although it is a treasure trove for any photographer. I felt that the tremendous spiritual context of the city might overwhelm my photographic interpretation of it. But when I finally got there, I — like every other visitor — was swept by its extraordinary power and aura. Walking along lanes and looking at structures that have existed for centuries makes you aware of what a tiny microcosm you exist in, otherwise. Watching people of different beliefs and faith pay respects, gain redemption or bid adieu to departed souls felt intensely personal and deeply inclusive. This image is one of my favourites from that trip. I like the juxtaposition of the modern graffiti with the striking subject that, much like Varanasi, blends the old and the new with utter seamlessness.
6. Theyyam Art
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Theyyam Art, Kerala
I stumbled upon this ritual worship while shooting for a commercial in Kerala. I returned the next year only to capture and chronicle this fascinating centuries-old ritualistic art that combines dance and music and is performed in front of a shrine. Watching the transformation of the person in front of me, morphing from an everyday ordinary mortal into a deity that the people almost revere is nothing short of spellbinding. The face painting with largely primary colours is an art form in itself.
7. Beel Fishing
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Beel Fishing, Majuli
From the moment I set foot on this river island in the middle of the Brahmaputra six years ago, I was enchanted. The soothing colours of the landscape, the hospitable locals, their stilt houses, the happy children; the simplicity of this world is astonishing. I have gone back every year after that. Fishing is one of the main sources of livelihood here and the best of beel fishing happens at the crack of dawn. What struck me about this photograph was that we seldom acknowledge the people whose efforts put the food on our plates. They remain unseen, like the Mishing fisherman here, veiled by his own net.
